Building the systems that help African youth lead, create and act.
We connect leadership development, seven specialised agencies and community action, equipping young Africans to create practical solutions, contribute knowledge and shape the continent’s next chapter.
- 14+
- Years of impact
- 15K+
- Young people trained
- 250+
- Communities impacted
- 15+
- Countries networked
- 7
- Specialised agencies
From mentorship to a growing institution.
Youth Arise began in 2013 as a mentoring-focused radio initiative founded by Moses Baffour Awuah. That commitment to personal development grew into leadership training, including the Leadership Diary Training Program, and then into work across several fields.
Today, YAO coordinates seven specialised agencies. Together, they connect learning, professional expertise, creative expression and community service, giving young people more than an event to attend: a wider network through which to develop and contribute.
About Youth Arise2013 · Mentorship beginnings / Leadership development / Seven-agency coordination
Seven agencies.
One coordinated mission.
Each agency focuses on a different field. YAO connects their work through shared leadership, coordination and a common direction.
Youth Arise Organisation
Leadership development and capacity building, regional mobilisation, peace and security, and community action.
Connecting people and specialist agencies so that learning can move into coordinated action.
STEM Explorers Network
Practical STEM learning, technical skills and innovation.
Youth Alliance for Agricultural Transformation
Agriculture, agribusiness and sustainable food systems.
Arise Center for Holistic Health, Wellness & Nutrition
Health, wellbeing and nutrition.
Arise Center for Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Culture, heritage and creative expression.
Orange Professionals Network
Professional development, marketplace readiness and networking.
Arise Multimedia Agency
Media, documentation and African storytelling.
The Architect’s Vision
Fourteen years of work have deepened the conviction that African potential needs sustainable structures around it. Mentorship was a beginning; a coordinated institution gives that beginning somewhere to grow.
This vision brings leadership into relationship with specialist expertise, community action and knowledge production. It is a commitment to African agency and institutional resilience: solutions shaped by the people who understand the places they serve.
Narrative Sovereignty is part of that work. African experiences must be documented, understood and told by Africans themselves. As Youth Arise grows beyond one programme, its purpose is to build the capabilities and connections through which young people can contribute to a more independent and prosperous continent.
Coordinated at the centre.
Active across the fields.
YAO institutional leadership
Shared direction, mentorship, capacity building and regional mobilisation connect the wider network.
Specialist agencies
Sector expertise develops skills, relationships and practical capability.
Programmes & platforms
Training, clubs, convenings and exchanges bring people and ideas together.
Projects & service
Teams put learning to work through community initiatives and practical solutions.
The learning returns to the system: experience is documented and discussed, informing the next programmes, research and policy conversations.
Places to develop,
exchange and convene.
Three major platforms serve different purposes within the wider institution.
LDTP · Leadership developmentLeadership Diary Training Program
Workshops, mentorship, team learning and community service develop the confidence and discipline to lead.
Explore LDTP
OYF · Youth exchangeOrange Youth Festival
Ideas, culture and dialogue meet in a shared space for continental youth expression and participation.
Explore OYF
GYWC · Youth-work professionGlobal Youth Workers Conference
Practitioners and stakeholders exchange experience, strengthen youth work and discuss its direction.
Explore GYWCLearning beyond
the room.
The work extends from preparation and ideas to service, practical implementation and wider civic participation.
Community Impact ProjectsFrom an idea to work on the ground.
Teams identify local challenges and develop practical responses. Lighting the Way shows that process moving into installation.
See the documented result
Community ServiceLeadership through service.
Volunteers put leadership into practice by serving alongside communities and responding to real needs.
My Ideal AfricaA place for ideas to take shape.
Young people articulate the continent they want and explore proposals responding to its challenges and possibilities.
Explore ideas & policy- SALC
- Clubs & mentorship
- Regional mobilisation
- Peace & security
- STEM learning
- Agriculture
- Health & wellbeing
- Culture
- Professional networks
- Media & storytelling
The work, made visible.
Documented project · January 2026Lighting the Way
Team Kamkwamba Force moved a community streetlighting proposal into installation and commissioning. The project plaque records commissioning on 16 January 2026.
Cargill Ghana is credited as a supporter of this specific project.
Community & environmental serviceShared responsibility in practice.
Planting and environmental activities give participants opportunities to serve together and take responsibility for the places around them.
African experience.
African perspectives.
The Africa We Want Symposium, Policy Labs and My Ideal Africa connect youth ideas with wider conversations about the continent’s direction.
Alongside dialogue, statements and documentation create resources for further learning. Agenda 2063 provides a frame for discussing the Africa young people want to help build.
- Policy dialogue
- Youth perspectives
- Research & knowledge
Ideas become a starting point for further work.
A permanent home
for the whole system.
A lasting institution needs space to learn, make, collaborate and convene. Youth Arise’s building project is now underway, supported by volunteer contributions.
The vision includes leadership and training spaces, STEM and digital labs, media facilities, convening areas and residential capacity.
Find your place
in Youth Arise.
Learn with us. Volunteer your skills. Build a partnership. Support work that matters.
Architecting Sustainable
Social Systems for the African Youth.
A Federation of specialized agencies dedicated to economic sovereignty, narrative agency, and institutional resilience.
Years of Longitudinal Impact
Nations Networked
Emerging Leaders Trained
The Architect
Moses Baffour Awuah
Chairman & Visionary
The Architect’s Vision
Twelve years ago, I embarked on a journey that began with a simple observation: the incredible potential of the African youth was being stifled by a lack of sustainable systems.
What started as a grassroots effort to empower "game-changers" has since evolved into a lifetime mission to architect Social Sovereignty...
The YAO Innovation Ecosystem
A Multi-Agency Framework for Regional Transformation
In 2023, Youth Arise Organisation underwent a strategic restructuring, evolving from a centralized operation into a Federation of Specialized Agencies.
This transition allowed for deeper field research and targeted human capital development across multiple sectors.
The Hub &
Spoke Model
A coordinated federation of specialized agencies designed to address systemic challenges through localized expertise and regional harmonization.
Economic Sovereignty & Professional Networks
Youth Alliance for Agricultural Transformation (YAFAT)
Focus on Regional Value-Chain Harmonization.
Orange Professional Network (OPN)
Focus on "Institutional Retention Data" and professionalizing Africa’s development workforce.
Narrative, Arts & Multimedia
Arise Multimedia Agency (AMA)
Focus on "Knowledge Production" and documenting the African Journey.
Arise Center for Arts, Culture and Entertainment (ACACE)
A research center exploring how cultural heritage contributes to social resilience.
Holistic Development & Exploration
Arise Center for Holistic Health, Wellness and Nutrition (ARCH)
Investigating the correlation between physical/mental well-being and the long-term success of social entrepreneurs.
STEM Explorers Network (SEN)
A discovery laboratory utilizing field exploration and STEM disciplines to build narrative resilience and leadership identity during the "Unplanned Phase."
Global Youth Workers
Conference (GYWC)
The premier global platform for youth workers and policymakers to co-design the future of the profession. GYWC is where global goals meet localized action.
Key Milestones
Accra Statement 2025
Unified policy document for global youth work standardization.
Multi-Stakeholder Platform
Connecting 1,000+ emerging leaders through shared digital infrastructure.
Impact
OUR PARTNERS
